In a culture where repentance was seen as a work you did to earn God’s favor, Jesus tells a story about a lost son, a shame-bearing father, and an angry older brother to redefine repentance entirely. In this episode on Luke 15, we walk through the parables of the lost sheep, lost coin, and especially the lost sons to see that repentance is not paying God back, but admitting you cannot—and throwing yourself on a love that has already run to meet you.
In this week’s episode, we explore:
- How Luke 15 answers the Pharisees’ complaint that Jesus “receives sinners and eats with them,” and why table fellowship meant deep acceptance, not casual friendliness
- What first-century Jews believed about repentance as a work that made you righteous—and how Jesus challenges that view through all three parables
- The cultural shock of portraying a despised shepherd and a marginalized woman as positive heroes who diligently seek what is lost
- Why the younger son’s request for his inheritance is like saying, “I wish you were dead,” and how selling the family land to Gentiles breaks not just the family but the whole community
- The father’s outrageous response: granting the request, watching the road, then running through the village, shouldering the son’s shame, and publicly reconciling him with kisses and a feast
- How the prodigal’s carefully planned “I’ll pay you back as a hired worker” speech melts into simple confession when he meets his father’s costly grace
- The restoration symbols—robe, ring, sandals, and calf—and what they say about sonship, trust, freedom, and full acceptance rather than probation
- The older brother’s quiet rebellion: outward obedience masking resentment, entitlement, and refusal to join the joy of restoration
- How the unfinished ending—no response from the older brother—leaves the religious listener with a question: will you stay outside demanding wages, or come in and live as a child of grace?
After listening, you’ll see the “prodigal son” not just as a story about a wayward rebel, but as a mirror for both kinds of lostness: the rule-breaker who runs and the rule-keeper who resents. You’ll be invited to lay down your own strategies for earning your way back to God, to confess with the younger son, “I am no longer worthy,” and to receive with empty hands the Father’s restoring embrace. And you’ll hear the open-ended question to the older brother as an invitation to you: will you join the feast of grace, rejoice over repentant sinners, and live your life as dearly loved rather than desperately earning?
Series: Parables of Jesus
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